Hong Kong stocks end lower on slowing China factory growth

HONG KONG, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Hong Kong’s main Hang Seng index closed at a two-week low on Tuesday, dragged by financial and property stocks, while China’s H-shares index fell most in more than three months amid signs of weakness in China’s manufacturing sector. ** Traders said U.S. President saying it was “too soon” for Washington to talk to Beijing about working out a deal on trade also dampened appetite for taking risk.

** The sub-index of the Hang Seng tracking energy shares dipped 0.54 percent, while the IT sector was down 1.82 percent. ** Growth in China’s manufacturing sector sputtered in September as both external and domestic demand weakened, two surveys showed on Sunday.

** The top gainer on Hang Seng was WH Group, up 0.91 percent, while the biggest loser was Swire Pacific, which was down 4.9 percent. ** Around the region, MSCI’s Asia ex-Japan stock index was weaker by 1.6 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei index closed up 0.1 percent. ** MGM China led slide in gaming stocks after Chinese territory of Macau posted a slightly slower-than-estimated growth in gambling revenues in September ** The top gainers among H-shares were People’s Insurance Group of China Co Ltd up 1.99 percent, followed by China Telecom, gaining 1.8 percent and CNOOC, up by 0.9 percent. ** The three biggest H-shares percentage decliners were China Gas Holdings Ltd, which was down 8.8 percent, Guangzhou Automobile Group, which fell 7.27 percent and Great Wall Motor Co Ltd, down by 6.01 percent.